Here
on "A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE", I'll be the first
one to admit when something in the blog isn't quite working the way that I
wanted it to. I'll also be the first
one to admit that sometimes my ideas sound much better in my head than they do
on paper.
Or,
in this case, a computer screen.
I thought that the "WHO AM I WEDNESDAY" feature, in which you
have to guess who the person I'm talking about is based on the diary entries
they write was going to be a big hit, but looking at the stats, of the three
brand new days that I've incorporated into the blog, Wednesdays are ranked the
lowest of the seven day week. I tried
it for two weeks just to see if there was any sort of increase in readership,
but to be honest with you, I began having second thoughts about keeping the
feature going in its current format.
(By the way, the answer to last week's entry was Ned Flanders.)
However,
I still like the idea of the theme day title.
"WHO AM I WEDNESDAY" is still a really
interesting idea...but maybe what I'll do is change it up.
Instead
of doing diary entries about fictional characters, what if I went back to doing
diary and video entries about myself doing a little bit of self-reflection and
looking deeper into myself to figure out what makes me tick, and what went into
some of the choices that I made when I was a child, the choices I'm currently
making now, and the choices that I hope to make in the future.
In
fact, I'm going to make this edition of the new and (hopefully) improved
version of "WHO AM I WEDNESDAY" a video blog. Would you believe that the last time I
posted a video blog was way back on the first of May? That's almost three weeks ago!
Oh, well. I guess you could say
that I'm making up for lost time in a sense, right?
So,
how am I going to do this blog? Well,
you know how I did that piece on MOTIVATION MONDAY earlier this week where on
my chat show we read the messages that we would leave behind after we pass
away.
(And, given that the episode originally aired on my birthday, I found it quite
ironic to talk about death on the day that I was born...but nevertheless, we
went ahead with it.)
Admittedly,
mine was structured in a way that I was trying to clear up any misconceptions
that people had in regards to how they saw me.
I don't know if I did such a good job with that, but I'll let you be the
judge. All you have to do is find the
entry that I wrote on May 19, 2014, and you can read my epitaph, so to
speak. To me, it makes sense, but I'll
let you make your own judgment call on that one.
In the meantime, I want to use this space to clear up another
misconception...only this time, it is one that I had about myself.
MISCONCEPTION #6: I lack athletic
ability.
The truth? Revealed in video format
right...now.
So, what do you think? Do you think you can live with the new "WHO
AM I WEDNESDAY"? I'd love to hear your comments. You can post them here, or at my e-mail
address at matthewwturcotte518@gmail.com!
Hello,
everyone! Are you ready for the next
edition of the Tuesday Timeline? I hope
you are because I've got another new topic to talk about. As you well know, this month is going to
feature celebrity birthdays, and my job is to try and find one piece of trivia
for each year that they have been alive.
Two weeks ago, I featured George Clooney, and last week, I featured
Stevie Wonder. Maybe I should feature a
female this week to try and balance things out a bit.
For
now though, let's have a look at the events and celebrity birthdays for May 20.
526 - A quarter of a million people are killed after an
earthquake devastates the area that is now called Syria and Antiochia
1570 - Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum
Orbis Terrarum - the first modern atlas
1609 - William Shakespeare's sonnets are first published
in London
1813 - The Battle of Bautzen takes place in Saxony,
Germany when Napoleon Bonaparte leads his troops into battle with Russian and
Prussian forces
1862 - The Homestead Law is passed by President Abraham
Lincoln
1873 - Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a patent to
manufacture blue jeans with copper rivets
1883 - The eruption of Mt. Krakatoa begins - would erupt
three months later, killing 36,000 people
1891 - Thomas Edison displays the prototype of the first
kinetoscope
1899 - The very first traffic ticket was issued to Jacob
German in New York City when he was arrested for speeding while driving 12
miles an hour!
1927 - Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field,
Long Island, New York to embark on the world's first solo non-stop fight across
the Atlantic Ocean
1932 - Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to
embark on the world's first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic by a
female pilot
1969 - The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends
1980 - Quebec residents vote in favour of not separating
from Canada with 60% of the votes during the 1980 Referendum
1983 - The discovery that the HIV virus causes AIDS is
first published in scientific magazines
1989 - Actress/comedienne Gilda Radner succumbs to
ovarian cancer at the age of 42
1996 - Jon Pertwee - the Third Doctor - dies at the age
of 76
2011 - Wrestler Randy Savage dies of cardiac arrhythmia
at the age of 58
2012 - Singer Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees dies of liver
and kidney failure at the age of 62
2013 - An EF5 tornado devastates the community of Moore,
Oklahoma, killing 24 and injuring 377 others
And,
a very happy birthday to John Cruickshank, David
Hedison, Constance
Towers, Anthony
Zerbe, John
Strasberg, Joe
Cocker, Mary
Pope Osborne, Dave
Thomas, Cindy
McCain, Dean
Butler, Ron
Reagan, Jane
Wiedlin, Susan
Cowsill, Bronson
Pinchot, John
Billingsley, Tony
Goldwyn, Dan
Abrams, Mindy
Cohn, Timothy
Olyphant, Busta
Rhymes, Matt
Czuchry, Angela
Goethals, Candace
Bailey, and Jack
Gleeson.
Okay,
so I've left off one celebrity birthday on purpose. And, as I said before, this person is female. So, when was she born?
May 20, 1946. Oh,
NO! Well, okay, the positive is that
I'm debuting the new Tuesday Timeline year logo to go with the new colour
scheme of the blog. The negative? I have to come up with sixty-eight fun facts
about this celebrity superstar! Why
couldn't I have chosen someone born in 1990 instead?
Oh well...since I can't go back on my word, I may as well let you know that
today's blog subject is CHER. And Cher
has definitely been a huge force in the recording industry for nearly five
whole decades! So, I'm thinking that
finding 68 pieces of trivia for every single one of Cher's 68 years of life
will be easy. At least...I HOPE so.
1 -
Cher's name at birth was Cherilyn Sarkisian.
2 -
Cher's mother was married EIGHT times!
Three of those marriages were to Cher's father!
3 - Cher herself was only married twice in comparison - once to Sonny Bono, and
once to Gregg Allman.
4 -
Cher has two children. Elijah Blue
Allman and Chaz Bono (formerly known as Chastity).
5 -
She is the oldest female artist to have a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with
the single "Believe".At the
time, she was 52 years old.
6 -
Cher was once so poor as a child that she reportedly used rubber bands to hold
her shoes together.
7 -
Her first stage production was for a fifth grade performance of the musical
"Oklahoma!"
8 -
Her childhood idol growing up was Audrey Hepburn, and she even began dressing
like her when "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was released.
9 -
She is dyslexic, going undiagnosed for many years before being diagnosed with
it as an adult.
10
- Dropped out of high school when she was 16 to pursue a career in
entertainment.
11
- Cher first met her first husband Sonny Bono in 1962.Cher was just 16...Sonny was 27.
12
- And would you believe that Cher was originally hired to be Sonny's
housekeeper? It's kind of like
"Who's The Boss", only in reverse.
13
- Sonny and Cher first began performing together in 1964...under the stage name
of Caesar & Cleo. Don't worry if
you haven't heard of them. They never
had a hit...
14
- ...that is until the group started recording as Sonny and Cher, and their hit
"I Got You Babe" hit #1 during the summer of 1965.
15
- Teenagers were so in love with Sonny and Cher's fashion style that Cher was
even inspired to design her own line of clothing!
16
- Sonny and Cher married in 1964, but the marriage was already in trouble as
early as 1969 when Sonny cheated on her with several women.
17
- However, when Sonny and Cher were offered their own show after they appeared
as guest hosts on "The Merv Griffin Show", they decided to stay
together...at least they agreed to it then.
18 - That show was The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour", which premiered in
August 1971.
19
- That same year, Cher achieved her very first solo #1 single in "Gypsys,
Tramps, & Thieves".
20
- Although Cher's divorce from Sonny Bono was finalized in June 1975, the
marriage was reportedly over three full years before that in 1972. Cher continued with the variety show until
1974 though.
21
- She had a two year love affair with record executive David Geffen in the
early 1970s.
22
- She is the winner of three Golden Globe Awards, won in 1974 for her variety
series with Sonny Bono, 1984 for "Silkwood", and 1988 for
"Moonstruck".
23
- She is also the winner of an Emmy Award for her 2003 concert special
"Cher: The Farewell Tour".
24
- She is also the winner of a Grammy Award where she won for her single
"Believe".
25
- She is also the winner of an Academy Award in 1988 for Best Actress for the
film "Moonstruck".
26
- Sadly, she was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award in 2010 for her role in
"Burlesque"...
27
- ...the good news is that she lost the award!
28
- She was featured twice on People's Most Intriguing People of The Year issues
in 1975 and 1987 respectively.
29
- There was a twenty-five year gap between two of Cher's #1 hits between 1974's
"Dark Lady" and 1999's "Believe".
30
- Cher appeared on the cover of People Magazine a total of 13 times.
31
- If you allow #1 dance hits, Cher has had at least one #1 hit in the 1960s,
1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.
32
- Cher isn't wearing flowered panties in the video for "If I Could Turn
Back Time". That's actually a
tattoo! Rumour has it that she's
underwent procedures to remove it.
33
- In total, Cher has six tattoos.
34
- She's also been called the "poster girl" of plastic surgery, even
though Cher herself has stated that she hasn't had as many procedures as people
think.
35
- Cher was awarded with an award from the Council of Fashion Designers of
America in 1999 for her contribution to fashion.
36
- One of Cher's favourite designers was Bob Mackie - who also designed the
costumes for "The Carol Burnett Show".
37
- Appeared on an episode of "Will & Grace".
38
- Is widely considered to be one of the biggest gay icons in the world.
39
- She performed the Star-Spangled Banner at Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999.
40
- Despite having a "Farewell Tour" which lasted between 2002 and
2005, Cher is currently embarking on the "Dressed To Kill" tour,
which begin in March 2014.
41
- Reunited with Sonny Bono in a 1987 episode of "Late Night With David Letterman.
42
- She read a heartfelt eulogy for Sonny Bono after his January 1998 death.
43
- Performed a cover version of "The Shoop Shoop Song" in 1990 to
promote the movie "Mermaids", which she starred in alongside Winona
Ryder and Christina Ricci.
44
- Identifies herself as a Buddhist.
45
- Stands at five feet, eight-and-a-half inches tall.
46
- She lived with Gene Simmons for several years.
47
- She was offered the role of Thelma in the 1991 film "Thelma &
Louise". The part eventually went
to Geena Davis.
48
- She really wanted to play the role of Morticia Addams in "The Addams
Family", but Anjelica Huston won the part instead.
49
- She was forced to wear braces in adulthood.
50
- Suffers from a fear of flying.
51
- She was offered a role in "The Witches of Eastwick" on May 20, 1986
- Cher's 40th birthday.
52
- Is one of only six actors/actresses to have both a #1 single and an Academy
Award.
53
- Auditioned for the role of Bonnie Parker in 1967's "Bonnie and
Clyde". The part went to Faye
Dunaway.
54
- Before giving birth to Chastity/Chaz Bono, Cher suffered four miscarriages.
55
- She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 1998.
56
- Cher's ex-husband, Gregg Allman and her son Elijah made cameo appearances in
the "If I Could Turn Back Time" video.
57 - "If I Could Turn Back Time" was actually banned from MTV for a
period of time.
58
- Cher married Gregg Allman just three days after her divorce from Sonny Bono
was finalized.
59 - The video for "Song For The Lonely" is one of the last videos
made that features the World Trade Center.
The video was filmed just days before the 9/11 attacks.
60
- Cher re-recorded her hit single "I Got You Babe" with Beavis and
Butt-Head in 1993.
61
- Released a total of twenty-five studio albums.
62
- In November 2010, Cher placed her handprints in cement in front of Grauman's
Chinese Theatre.
63
- Turned down the opportunity to perform at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi,
Russia due to Russia's anti-gay stance.
64
- She is not a registered Democrat, but has been seen at several Democratic
conventions over the years.
65
- Contributed to "Operation Helmet".
66
- Has done work with "Habitat for Humanity".
67
- Worked as a model for photographer Richard Avedon in the late 1960s.
68
- Her latest album was released in 2013.
Whew. I'm exhausted! That was a lot to write! But, at 68, Cher certainly shows no sign of
slowing down at all!
Before
I go ahead with today's Motivation Monday, why not have a listen to the seventh
episode of our MOTIVE4CHANGE talk show?
I, along with my friends JOSHUA, CARINE, and JONATHON had a lot of fun recording
this one. We tried a whole bunch of
different things this episode, and I hope you like what you hear.
In this case, the major topic was what message we would leave behind in the
world if we were to die. And, well,
given that we aired this episode on my birthday, it seemed a bit morbid to talk
about death on my birthday. But such as
it is, here's the episode.
EPISODE #7 - OUR DYING ADVICE TO THE WORLD - 5/18/2014
But,
I do have to mention one thing. Some of
the audio was compromised while we were recording because the final product had
some parts that were corrupted. It was
nobody's fault, but we ended up losing some of our recording. So, just to show you exactly what I really
wanted to say, I thought that I would just post a text version of the speech I
wrote for this episode. Enjoy!
I have to admit that when it
comes to leaving my epitaph behind, I never really gave it a lot of
thought. For one, although I know that
immortality is an impossibility, I also get sort of creeped out talking about death. It just seems so finite, and I don't want to
think about dying until a long time from now.
But one thing that I have learned is that not all of us have the luxury
of time, and sometimes the things you leave behind are not necessarily
possessions, but words.
So, the question is simply this. If
heaven forbid I end up dying tomorrow, what is it that I would want them to
know about me? What sort of
misconceptions about me would I want to clear up with those I left behind? And, what sorts of secrets would I take to
the grave?
Well, okay...I don't have THAT many secrets.
I was just being dramatic.
Okay, so let's begin with
the various misconceptions that people that passed through my life have
believed about me during the course of my life, shall we?
MISCONCEPTION #1: People in my life had
the belief that I am "damaged goods" or "broken", and that
because of that they felt a need to try and "fix me".
Here's a news flash for those people. I
wasn't born broken, but I certainly was made to feel that way by the very
people who tried to "fix me" under the guise of friendship and
compassion. Please, let's not beat
around the bush. There is absolutely
zero friendship and compassion in telling somebody that they will never amount
to anything because they aren't like anybody else. That goes towards the teachers who sent me out of class and
forced me to walk around school hallways with books on my head because my
walking on my tiptoes was too "abnormal" for them. That goes towards the classmates who were
ballsy enough to offer me "dieting tips" because they believed that
they would like me more if I lost a few pounds. Truth be told, as I matured, I discovered that I could never
sustain a friendship based on superficiality and shallowness!
Though, this does lead to my second point...
MISCONCEPTION #2: I made
self-depreciating comments about myself because I am attention seeking and
wanted people to notice me.
In all honesty, the reason I poked fun at myself, and made all sorts of
sarcastic jabs towards me wasn't because of attention. Hell, if I wanted the attention, I'd strip
off all my clothes and go running through a crowded shopping mall. I'm sure that would have gotten people's
attention...and me a one-way-ticket to a county jail for a 24-hour accommodation.
Truth is...I did it because it hurt a lot less when I said it instead of
letting other people tease me and belittle me.
It was what I thought to be a really nifty defense mechanism. The more I belittled myself, the less the
comments from other thoughtless people would hurt, and the better I'd feel.
I guess this leads into point number three.
MISCONCEPTION #3: That plan of action
that I just described in MISCONCEPTION #2 was nothing more than a placebo.
In fact, it taught me that of all the enemies that I had in this life, I was
probably the worst one. What was I
thinking with that advice? Certainly
not one of my smarter moments.
And, from there, we go on to my fourth point.
MISCONCEPTION #4: I grew up in a family
that didn't have riches, so therefore I was not worth knowing.
I have to state that this is absolutely not true. In fact, I want to tell you something that I've never actually
revealed here. My childhood was
certainly no bed of roses in school, but there were times in my early childhood
education in which we endured a lot of hardships which included losing the home
that my family was renting and having to move in with my grandparents for a few
months, causing a lot of stress within three different generations of
families. I don't remember much about
that time, but I do recall that the general mood was glum. I hate to admit it, but I was secretly a
little bit jealous of my classmates who had the big houses and toys filling
their bedrooms, and who wore the latest fashions, and all of that jazz. It didn't dawn on me that their lives could
have been filled with a lot of anger, sadness, and pain. A lot of the kids in my school seemed to
judge people based on how much money they had, and since my family didn't have
a whole lot, they didn't give me the time of day. But you know something?
Somehow, I still think that I turned out all right. At least I know the value of a dollar and at
least I know how to save money for a rainy day. Hell, there have been years in which I have survived monsoons,
and still have come out money ahead! I
suppose that my upbringing had a lot to do with it, and I'm proud of my
non-materialistic ways.
MISCONCEPTION #5: I'm socially awkward
because I have no people skills.
Actually, I'm socially awkward because of having social anxiety brought on by
years of being treated horribly by peers (which unfortunately you'll run into
no matter where you are), and by some adult figures in my life (who
unfortunately were old enough to know better).
But thanks to those of you judgmental people for continuing to judge me
even though you never once made an effort to include me or make me even feel
human. Good to know.
Now, I know what you're
saying. You're thinking that my epitaph
is just me venting a lot of frustration over how things went in my life. You're absolutely right. I did vent a lot of frustration. I guess it's because I kept things bottled
up for so long that if I were to die tomorrow, leaving this message behind
would be a kind of a wake-up call to those people who jumped to the wrong
conclusions about me. It would let them
know that I am not the person they thought I was. That I didn't need fixing.
That I had feelings that were more sensitive than other people's. That I could be a social butterfly if I were
treated like I belonged and that I was worthy of respect.
I guess that after I am gone
from this world, I wouldn't want people to associate me with negative
memories. Instead, I want to see seen
as sensitive, kind, intuitive, empathetic, and most of all, strong.
After all...you don't have
to raise a wall, or push a car down a hill, or lift up a 500 pound barbell to
show that you're strong. You can
measure a person's true strength just by measuring just how much they've had to
go through in their lives. And, I think
that my legacy will be one of strength.
I may not show it, but I'm a lot stronger than most will ever give me
credit for.
As
promised, I did mention that the site would be getting a complete overhaul this
weekend, and as you can see, the site renovation is complete, and just six days
ahead of schedule for the blog's third anniversary!
Well,
okay, I have a confession to make. I
did plan to time this renovation for the eighteenth anyways. I figure that since I'm turning another year
older today that it was time for a fresh new beginning. The renovation of the blog was just the
first step. I'm looking at 33 as being
a transitional year. Here's hoping that
I can make it that way. Of course, we
never know what the future will hold.
All we can do is take things one day at a time.
Now, on with the subject of today's Sunday Jukebox. Today is the day that I take a look back in time through the
various songs that hit #1 on my birthday.
Won't that be fun!
The problem is...I can't do the blog on the #1 song the exact day I was
born. I already did a piece on Kim
Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" when this blog was first started. Too bad too. It would have been a great song to feature.
Hmmm...maybe if I post the other 33 songs that hit #1 on my birthday, I'll be
inspired to come up with the right song to discuss. Surely there must be some song that I like enough to feature on
this page.
I've
already revealed the #1 song for May 18, 1981, so let's start off with 1982 and
go from there...
1988 - Anything For You -
GLORIA ESTEFAN & MIAMI SOUND MACHINE
1989 - Forever Your Girl -
PAULA ABDUL
1990 - Vogue - MADONNA
1991 - I Like The Way (The
Kissing Game) - HI-FIVE
1992 - Jump - KRIS KROSS
1993 - That's The Way Love
Goes - JANET JACKSON
1994 - The Sign - ACE OF
BASE
1995 - This Is How We Do It
- MONTELL JORDAN
1996 - Tha Crossroads - BONE
THUGS-n-HARMONY
1997 - Hypnotize - THE
NOTORIOUS B.I.G.
1998 - Too Close - NEXT
1999 - Livin' La Vida Loca -
RICKY MARTIN
2000 - Maria Maria - SANTANA
2001 - All For You - JANET
JACKSON
2002 - Foolish - ASHANTI
2003 - Get Busy - SEAN PAUL
2004 - Yeah! - USHER
2005 - Hollaback Girl - GWEN
STEFANI
2006 - SOS - RIHANNA
2007 - Makes Me Wonder -
MAROON 5
2008 - Bleeding Love - LEONA
LEWIS
2009 - Boom Boom Pow - BLACK
EYED PEAS
2010 - OMG - USHER f.
will.i.am
2011 - E.T. - KATY PERRY f.
KANYE WEST
2012 - Somebody That I Used
To Know - GOTYE f. KIMBRA
2013 - Can't Hold Us -
MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
2014 - All Of Me - JOHN
LEGEND
Well,
right off the bat, I can eliminate the songs from 1982, 1985, 1986, 1990, and
1994. I already did blogs on all of
those songs already. And, I'm going to
just put it out there. Many of these
songs (particularly the ones released after 1995) are ones that I am not a fan
of. And, besides, 1995 was considered
to be my worst birthday ever with two-fifths of my family being hospitalized
due to surgery, so I really don't want to talk about that year.
So, you know...I came up with an idea.
Why don't I just pick the birthday that I remember the most and just go
from there. And, in fact, I can tell
you exactly what it was.
It would be birthday #11...so that would take us to the year 1992. For starters, my birthday fell on a Monday,
which in Canada meant no school! (In Canada there's a holiday called
"Victoria Day" which occurs on the Monday during the week of May
18-24, and every time my birthday falls on a Monday, I miss school). But did you know that my whole fifth grade
class actually got together to throw me a surprise party? Believe it or not, it really did happen! It's also one of the reasons why I have more
fond memories of elementary school than I do high school. It's hard for me to explain who came up with
the idea for the party, and I don't know how they pulled it off...but it was a
really kind gesture for all of the kids to get together to help me ring in
birthday #11! I never forgot that. And, even though I haven't seen some of
those kids in years, and even though some of the kids didn't quite get along
with me...it certainly is a memory that I don't think I'll ever forget.
(It
also remains the only time that I remember ever having a surprise party thrown
for me. But hey, one birthday out of
thirty-three isn't that bad of a track record.)
So, let's go back in time twenty-two years to the time in which my eleventh
birthday took place, and see what the story is behind this #1 hit.
ARTIST: Kris Kross
SONG: Jump ALBUM: Totally Krossed Out DATE RELEASED: February 6,
1992 PEAK POSITION ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS: #1 for 8 weeks
Wow! Kris Kross!
Remember them? When I was in
sixth grade, they were all over the radio!
And would you believe that "Jump" was their very first hit and
that it stayed at the top of the charts for two months before being dethroned
by Mariah Carey's "I'll Be There" in June 1992? That's quite an impressive feat!
But not nearly as impressive as the fact that when Kris Kross were first
hitting the music scene, the two members were only twelve and thirteen!
The story behind Kris Kross goes like this.
The two members of Kris Kross (Chris "Mac Daddy" Kelly and
Chris "Daddy Mac" Smith) were discovered at an Atlanta shopping mall
by then 19-year-old Jermaine Dupri in 1991.
At the time, Kelly was thirteen and Smith was just twelve. Their voices had not yet hit puberty at the
time, and yet, both of them were signed to Ruffhouse Records in early 1992.
The
name Kris Kross was chosen as the duo's name for a number of reasons. For one, both members of the band were named
Chris, so that was a given that they would use their name in some format. As for why they adopted the letter K instead
of a C for their name, I'm not sure exactly what the reason was behind it. But, I suppose that I can only speculate
that they did it to distinguish themselves from singer Christopher Cross, who
had several hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s with "Think of Laura",
"Ride Like The Wind", and "Sailing".
Oh,
and one other thing that the duo did that separated themselves from the
mainstream involved their fashion. Not
only were their clothing items on the baggy side, but they also opted to wear
them completely backwards as well. I
suppose that adds another dimension to the "Kris Kross" name, as the
duo wore their clothes the opposite way of how most people did. Personally, I don't know how people could
wear their jeans backwards. Wouldn't it
be a heck of a time trying to get the zipper to go up?
Oh, well...I suppose wearing your jeans backwards is only ever so slightly
better than wearing your pants down so low, people can actually see the button
that is clasping the fly on your boxer shorts together. But only slightly.
Anyway,
let's talk about the single "Jump", which spent an astounding total
of eight weeks on the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1992.When it was released, it became the fastest
selling single since 1977 to hit the music stores, and was the first song to
spend eight consecutive weeks at the top of the charts in nine years.Of course, Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey
would double that run in late 1995 with their single "One Sweet Day",
but back in 1992, it was a big deal.
I
should also note that this song kept some other established groups from
reaching the Top 40. En Vogue's
"My Lovin' (Never Gonna Get It)" and the Red Hot Chili Peppers'
"Under The Bridge" only made it to #2 because of the success of the
Kris Kross song.
(Which
to me was sort of a shame as having a Red Hot Chili Peppers song hit the top of
the charts on your birthday would have been the absolute pinnacle of
awesomeness. But hey, I admit I liked
Kris Kross back in the day.)
Of
course, the song wasn't without some minor controversy as well. When Kris Kross first came out, they had a
bit of feud going on with another rap group, "Another Bad Creation",
and the initial pressing of the "Jump" single contained a sample of
the "Another Bad Creation" single "Playground", which was a
hit in 1991. The song played, then you
heard a scratching song, and then the song "Jump" played in
full. But this pressing didn't last too
long, as the duo had to get rid of the "Playground" sample due to
charges of copyright infringement.
Even
so, the song still managed to sell a total of over two million copies, making
it third best-selling song of 1992. Not
bad for a couple of kids. They
certainly achieved more than I did when I was twelve/thirteen. At that age, I considered it a huge feat to
completely beat "Final Fantasy VI" in a time of just under
forty-eight hours!
One
final note to add about this song. As
you know, the song hit the top of the charts in the United States. But it also topped the charts in Australia,
Belgium, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Switzerland. And when the end of the decade charts were
published for the 1990s, it was the twenty-third most successful song of the
entire decade according to Billboard.
After the success of "Jump", it earned the duo enough credibility to
tour with Michael Jackson on his 1992 "Dangerous" tour, and they made
cameo appearances in a Michael Jackson music video, as well as in videos
released by TLC and Run-D.M.C. They
even had another Top 20 hit in 1992 with the single "Warm it Up", a
third Top 20 hit a year later with "Alright", and a fourth Top 20 hit
with "Tonite's The Night" in 1995.
However,
by 1996, Kris Kross had decided that enough was enough, and the two members of
the band went their separate ways shortly after their third album was
released.Of course, by then both
members of Kris Kross were almost eighteen, and it was only natural that they
would want to try doing things on their own.But after trying their hands at solo careers, the two members did
reunite for a twentieth anniversary celebration for So So Def Recordings - a
company owned by the very man who discovered Kris Kross, Jermaine Dupri.
Sadly, that concert, which was held on February 23, 2013 would be the final
time in which Chris Kelly and Chris Smith would perform together. Less than three months later, on May 1,
2013, Chris Kelly was found in his Atlanta home unconscious. Despite efforts to save his life, Kelly died
in an Atlanta hospital later that afternoon.
Chris Kelly was only 34 years old. The
cause of death was linked to drug abuse.
The
day after Kelly died, Jermaine Dupri paid tribute to Kelly on his Twitter page,
referring to Kelly as the son that he never had. And Chris Smith - who had been friends with Kelly since they were
in the first grade - was equally devastated.
But you know, even though one-half of Kris Kross is now gone, it's nice to know
that the group still lives on in some manner.
Of course, "Jump" forever has a place in rap music history,
but Kris Kross also inspired other hip hop and new jack swing artists find
their way onto the charts. I also
believe that Kris Kross was one of the many groups that changed the way that
music was presented during the 1990s. I
can honestly say that I'm still a fan of early 1990s hip hop and new jack swing
music, largely because of the presence of Kris Kross on the charts.
And, hey...that song was #1 during one of my
favourite birthdays ever. How can I not
love it?
First
things first...get a good look at this blog right now. Get a look at the light purple wallpaper
background. The light yellow boxes
where the blog entries are written. The
Impact font that has been a staple of this blog for at least two years. The purple and blue splotchy logo with the
Italicized white "A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE" enclosed
within it for the last few months.
Get a nice good look at it now...because this is going to be the last time you
see this look.
Yes,
this design served me well over the last two years (prior to that, I used a
pink and blue motif during this blog's earliest days). But, like all good things, it's time for a
major overhaul. And you've seen some of
these changes in action so far with the slight changes in font, more use of
colour, and the rearrangement of the theme days.
Well,
this weekend brings forth the biggest change of all. And sometime this weekend, that change will be implemented in
what will be the biggest layout change that I've ever done with this blog. New logo, new colour scheme, new
everything! I've definitely
experimented with some various backgrounds and different colour schemes, and I
think I found one to match the wicked cool logo that my MOTIVE4CHANGE co-host
Joshua designed for me. I am hoping
that you enjoy the new look, and as always, I encourage feedback from all my
readers! After all, this blog is as
much your creation as it is mine! You
guys and gals truly inspire me to do my best here. I truly mean that.
So,
anyway, that's enough about that. Trust
me when I tell you that you'll know when the changes come. It will be that drastic.
Now,
let's talk about the new feature based on an old feature. It's Saturday Night At The Movies!
And, this week, I've decided to pick a movie that was released approximately
thirty-three years ago this week. But
thirty-three is such an odd number, don't you think? Not thirty, or forty, but thirty-three. Why the big deal about 33?
Well, I have a bit of a confession for you all. This weekend, I happen to turn the big 3-3. And, I have to tell you that I'm hoping that
33 is a good year. It just seems like a
number that could bring forth huge possibilities and huge changes. This blog makeover is certainly only the
beginning of that. And, maybe if you're
interested, I'll fill you in on some of the other changes that I'll be doing in
my 33rd year of life. But, only if
you're interested. I won't force you.
So, this explains why I wanted to feature a movie that was released in May
1981. But here's the problem. Apparently, May 1981 was NOT a good month
for movies at all. I hadn't even heard
of a good 75% of the films that were listed as new releases during that time
period, and the others that were there were films that I actually despised.
I
was about ready to give up hope and move right on to June 1981 when I came
across one film on the list that I remember liking. It's not my all-time favourite movie, but it's certainly the one
movie on the list that I can talk about long enough to do a substantial blog
on!
It's
a film that was originally released four days after my actual birthday, on May
22, 1981, and the film starred the late Richard Pryor in a movie about an
ex-con who is granted a second chance to live a crime-free life following the
violation of his probation.
But the actual plot of the movie is nothing compared to the real-life dramatic
incident that happened to Pryor during the filming of this movie. We'll get to that a little bit later.
For now, let's talk a bit about the plot of the 1981 film "Bustin'
Loose", the topic of this week's movie discussion. In addition to Richard Pryor, the film
starred Cicely Tyson, Robert Christian, and a whole lot of child actors. You'll learn more about those kids in the
next couple of paragraphs.
The film received mixed to mediocre reviews when it was released. Some critics loved it, others didn't care
for it. But the movie ended up making a
grand total of $31 million at the box office.
Which granted doesn't seem like a lot of money given that movies like
"Avatar" reached the one billion dollar mark. But keep in mind that money bought a lot
more thirty-three years ago than it does now.
Anyway,
Richard Pryor starred as convicted felon Joe Braxton, a man who does something
incredibly stupid while on parole.
Needless to say, if you're out on parole for a crime, it might not be
the best idea to steal a shipment of television sets from an electronics
store. Especially if you're dumb enough
to get caught while doing it.
Now, I've never been in trouble with the law before, so I can only speculate
what happens when a person violates the conditions of their parole. But I'm fairly sure that any parole
violators usually get the book thrown at them.
But
here's the twist in "Bustin' Loose".
In this case, Braxton manages to get a second chance (after playing a
game of good old reverse psychology on the judge who is presiding over the
trial), and he ends up going on an adventure with his parole officer
(Christian), a school teacher named Vivian (Tyson), and eight special needs
children who have yet to be relocated to new schools after their old one (in
which Vivian used to teach at) closed down.
Just to put into perspective what sorts of kids I'm talking about, let's
break it down. We have one kid who is
desperate to learn how to drive even though he is completely blind. We have another child who has an unhealthy
obsession with torching things and watching them burn. And we have a little girl who once worked as
a child prostitute in Vietnam.
Quite
the motley crew of characters, eh?
Anyway,
the decision to take the children out to a farm that Vivian's aunt owns in
Washington seems to be the most logical one, so Braxton decides to fix up an
old school bus and take the kids to the farm himself. And, naturally, Braxton ends up spending so much time with the
children that he starts to find ways to help them express themselves better,
and to help them cope in a world that frequently made them feel bad about
themselves.
Now,
that's really all of the plot details that I can give out at this time. Anything else would be spoiling the film for
you. And, even though the movie
discussion has switched from Mondays to Saturdays, I will state that the rules
of me not revealing the ending to any of these films will remain firmly in
place no matter what day movie discussions fall on.
But
to make it up to you, I have a very interesting story to tell you about one
behind the scenes moment that almost killed Richard Pryor!
Now,
it should come as no secret that Richard Pryor had problems with substance
abuse and alcohol. It was well
documented, especially in the early part of his career. Abusing drugs and alcohol had been a coping
strategy for Pryor to deal with depression.
Unfortunately, his dependency on alcohol and drugs lead to an incident
that happened on June 9, 1980 while he was filming "Bustin'
Loose". He was attempting to
freebase cocaine while drinking a bottle of rum. Certainly not the greatest combination in the world.
And, certainly not the smartest thing that Pryor ever did. During the process, he accidentally set
himself on fire and instead of doing the stop, drop, and roll thing that you're
supposed to do when your clothes catch on fire, he ran down the street
screeching like a banshee before police came upon the sight and subdued him
while putting out the flames. By the
time he was taken to hospital, he had fifty per cent of his body covered with
serious burns, and he spent a total of six weeks recuperating in hospital. Although reports differ from how things
really went down (theories range from Pryor accidentally setting himself on
fire in a drug induced rage to Pryor actually attempting to commit suicide),
regardless, it happened.
Fortunately, Richard survived the incident, only to be diagnosed with multiple
sclerosis six years later. Still, he
managed to live twenty-five more years, passing away in 2005 at the age of 65.
Reportedly with a smile on his face, according
to his widow, Jennifer.
All
right. Before I go ahead with today's
edition of the brand new Foodie Friday theme day, I wanted to do a little bit
of self-promotion courtesy of an iPad mini, a white board, and a dream. Now, granted, most of you who don't live in
Ontario, Canada will likely not be able to get to this event, but for those of
you who are, consider it my little piece of cross-promotion.
Once again I will be doing the "Relay for Life" event in my hometown,
a 12-hour event which will have all participants walking around a track for
cancer research. I had such a great
time last year with the event and I am definitely looking forward to
participating in the event again this year with some of my friends from work. And, because we're trying to raise money for
cancer research, our team is definitely coming up with ways to try and raise
money for the event.
And, what better way than with a cake walk and bake sale? Or, as I like to call it, the "Cake 'n'
Bake"!
Seriously,
there's just something about bake sales that always have my mouth watering and
my sweet tooth tingling with excitement!
As someone who admittedly has an out-of-control appetite for anything
sweet, I've always loved a great bake sale.
And, while I always have maintained that my mother makes some of the greatest
baked goods in the whole world, I must say that as long as a lot of love and
care was spent on each individual cookie, brownie, nanaimo bar, or pan of
baklava, I would be game to eating anything.
Well,
anything that doesn't contain a strawberry, that is.I have an allergy to strawberries.Luckily, the strawberry is the only berry (and food for that
matter) that I have an allergic reaction to.In fact, it's not even that serious of an allergy.I just develop several itchy spots all over
my body that are the same colour as a strawberry.It's more annoying than anything.
(And, it makes it really hard to buy yogurt, as 90% of all yogurt multipacks
have at least three containers of strawberry yogurt in them.)
But,
I'm just thankful that I have but ONE food allergy. I don't know if it's just me that is noticing this, but aren't
food allergies becoming more and more common these days?
Twenty years ago when I graduated elementary school, there was a time in which
kids could bring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and the teachers
wouldn't bat an eye. These days, a kid
brings in a peanut butter cookie and the school board treats it as if it's a
weapon of mass destruction!
I
honestly don't really know how to explain why there has been such an increase
in food allergies as of late. Whether
it is due to the fault of pesticides, resistance to antibiotics, not enough
exposure to probiotics, or simply the need to have excessively clean homes and
businesses causing the rise...it's really hard to say.
But
these days, you can't seem to go into a supermarket without being bombarded
with lots of brand new labels on products.
Products boasting that they are peanut-free, gluten-free, sugar-free,
egg-free, and dairy-free. And, in some
of these cases, these foods can also be taste-free!
It
certainly makes preparing foods to sell at a bake sale that much harder. For me it's easy enough to still select a
treat. All I have to do is choose foods
that do not have strawberries in them.
But for people who have allergies to dairy, nuts, and eggs, it can be
that much more difficult. As far back
as I could remember, my mom used all three of these things in almost every
single thing she has ever baked. I
couldn't imagine not being able to eat any cookie, cake slice, or brownie that
my mom makes because of an allergy to one or more key ingredient.
I
mean, surely there has to be some sort of baked treat that people with any kind
of allergy could eat. I just have to
find them, right?
One problem. My mother doesn't own any
sort of cookbook that have recipes that are gluten-free, dairy-free, or
nut-free. So, where would I go to get
recipes that people of all nutritional tolerances can enjoy?
Well,
would you believe that my own workplace inspired today's recipe share?
You see, there's a magazine that is available at most stores in the retail
chain that I work for. It's a magazine
that essentially is targeted towards the typical shopper at one of the stores -
a woman in her late thirties/early forties with a couple of children. It features fashion tips, crafts and games
for children, ideas for things to make the holidays better, and of course, it
has a whole section for recipes.
And, the best part? The magazine is
absolutely free. You really don't even
have to buy anything at the store to get the magazine.
But here's the thing. The magazine is
only available in Canadian stores. And
since most of my readers come from the United States, you probably won't know
where to get this magazine unless you know how to download it onto your
smartphone or tablet.
Well,
I have a special treat for you. I'm
sure that the people who came up with the recipe page for this magazine won't
mind if I scan the recipes from the latest issue on my scanner, and then post
the recipes in my blog. After all, the
magazine is absolutely free, and I'm sure that the people who made the recipes
up would be quite happy to see them traveling across the globe!
As
it so happens, this month's edition of the magazine had a section that focused
entirely on tasty treats that still tasted like the cookies and brownies you
grew up with, but substituting other ingredients for the ones that would cause
people to have serious allergic reactions.
Now, I myself haven't tried these recipes yet, but they certainly look very
tasty on the page. For those of you who
do try the recipes, please let me know how they turned out!
For
now, enjoy these recipes for Nut-Free Butter Tart Squares, Egg-Free
Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Gluten-Free Brownies! Bon appetit (and, don't worry, if you click on the images, you can blow the font up so that it is easier to read)!
And, I have one more final thing to say before I
close the recipe book on another Foodie Friday. If you have any recipes that you would like to spotlight in this
space (it can be anything you want), by all means, you are more than welcome to
send it to me. I will give you full
credit for your recipe, and you will have your recipe shared with people all
over the world! I'd call that a great
trade-off!
And, I even have an e-mail address where you can send your recipes. You can send them to matthewwturcotte518@gmail.com or if you like, you can visit the "A
POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE" Facebook page and leave a recipe there. Or, you can just leave a comment below!